So This Is How It Ends
by inxanity
Summary: An immortal, a lord, a hero, a diviner, a girl, and a fallen angel. Some may call them the blessed, they were gifted with extraordinary grace. They were born to be set apart, yet some may call them the cursed. They were born to save us, to die young.
1. And So It Begins

**So This Is How It Ends  
**_by inxanity_

* * *

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Pairings:** Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley/Tom Riddle

**Characters:** Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Tom Riddle/Voldemort, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley

**Summary:** Some call them the blessed, they were gifted with extraordinary grace. They were born to be set apart, yet some may call them the cursed. They were born to save us, to die young so we could continue to live. See their final year through their eyes and discover to what fate they were born.

**Rating:** R

* * *

_Prolouge_

Hermione sat in the window seat, watching the rain outside. She looked down at the knife that she held in her hand, and then to her left arm. It had finally stopped bleeding. She knew that she should stop, of course she did, she just fucking knew everything didn't she? She drew the knife across the underside of her arm again, the blood flowed out in a steady stream and she watched it, fascinated with the satin appearing on her skin, a colour nothing but blood could produce. She felt the relief that the numbness brought, yet she hated it. She hated that she was such a coward, that she couldn't take her own life yet she could stand up and watch the people she loved die for her. She closed the knife and slipped it into her pocket, "Not tonight," she whispered and stood up. She swayed a bit, unsteady from blood loss and looked around the room. She envied the other four girls in the room, she envied that they were able to sleep, not knowing what was coming, thinking that they were safe. Hermione walked over to her bed and lay down even though she knew that sleep would not come, this was the closest thing. She closed her eyes and her mind wandered. Her mind took her back to the beginning.

* * *

**Chapter One - And So It Begins - Hermione**

* * *

"Come on Harry! We're going to be late!" Hermione yelled over the noise of Platform ¾. She grabbed his hand and proceeded to pull him through the crowds of people. Harry shouted a quick goodbye to Lupin, turned around and started to weave his way through the people, now pulling Hermione along. It always seemed to start this way, the school year, she, Harry, and Ron always waiting until the last minute to get onto the train and nearly missing it each time. It suited them, not doing things the easy way, she thought; choosing to have to jump onto an already moving train instead of boarding it safely like the rest of the student body at Hogwarts. This year, their last year, was just the same. Hermione had graciously accepted the shiny new Head Girl badge, which was now stared safely away in her messenger, bag already on the train, she had of course expected no less, but still burst into tears when Dumbledore had handed her the sacred pin. Upon inquiring who the Head Boy was, Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he had provided her with a vague, "You shall see soon enough I expect."

After a safe, albeit dramatic, entrance onto the train, the two continued to run down the train corridor, looking into the windows trying to spot a patch of red here or there. Once they had reached the end of the train without finding their long time friend, they stopped to catch their breath.

"I win!" Harry shouted, skidding to a halt before the last compartment.

"You wish!" Hermione laughed, and tackled Harry to the ground. She then turned around and started to run back to the compartment where they had stored their luggage a good half hour ago. "First one back to the room-thing wins!"

"Not fair! Hermione you get back here right now and help a dying man up." Harry wheezed from where he still lay on the floor.

"Ewwww. I don't wanna tough a corpse!" Hermione crinkled her nose and continued to run towards the front of the train.

"Alright, that does it." Harry said, pushing himself up and running after her. He being the taller one with longer legs, he quickly gained on her. "That's right, you better run Hermione," he said in a mock threatening voice. Hermione shrieked and tried to speed up, but stopped abruptly when she spotted their compartment. Harry, not noticing where they were, saw her stop but it didn't register until a moment later when he had skid straight into a group of 4th year girls. They all giggled and helped him up, cooing, "Oh _Harry_, are you _okay_?" A muttered "Yeah, thanks," on Harry's part and one of his shy smiles, and he was soon on his way back to the compartment. He slid the door open and then leaned against the frame, cocking an eyebrow as he saw Hermione sitting in the corner, reading a gigantic tome; the one evidence that she had just partaken in physical activity was the faint glow of her cheeks.

"Could you come in? You're letting in the draft from the corridor." She said as she looked up and smiled sweetly at Harry.

"You know, it's not nice to play with the poor less than genius' brain." Harry said, collapsing onto the other bench then reaching over to slide the door shut.

"Oh really? Oh well, I have to partake in some form of amusement from time to time." She replied, shrugging.

"Well put Hermione. Harry I do believe that you've been insulted." Came a drawl from the doorway. Both looked up to see Anthony Goldstein of Ravenclaw standing there.

"Hey Anthony. What brings you here?" Hermione questioned as Harry glared.

"Well, since you didn't show up to the Head's meeting, I was sent to find you. Well, not you specifically but it goes without saying that everyone knew you were going to get Head girl all along. Congratulations."

"The same to you I expect." Hermione said, beaming with pride.

"Of course. Now Harry, I'm going to have to take her from you for a while, but she'll be back within the hour."

"Bye Harry! Keep a lookout for Ron while I'm gone!" Hermione called as Anthony whisked her out of the compartment.

"Yeah right. Ron can find us, _I'm_ going to sleep." And sleep he did.

* * *

Hermione returned to find a very adorable sleeping Harry sprawled out on the compartment's bench. Deciding that he deserved his sleep. She suppressed the urge to scare him awake and slid into the corner not occupied by the boy's lanky form. She picked up her book, but for one of the few times in her life she found that she could not study. This was her last time on the Hogwarts Express as a student. The last time she would enter Hogwarts for another school year. As the tears began to fall, she realized that this might be the last year that she, Harry, and Ron were together. It would be the logical thing for Voldemort to do, to strike this year.

"Hermione? Hermione! What's wrong?" Harry had woken up.

"It's nothing. . . I was just thinking about the future, that's all." Hermione said, wiping the tears from her eyes and smiling at Harry. Harry enfolded her in a hug and they sat like that for a while, thinking, until the trolley witch came around. Harry bought at least two of everything and gave half to Hermione. She protested, saying that she couldn't possibly eat it all even though it took very little time to persuade her to eat it. "A last time for everything," Harry said, "here's to our last year at Hogwarts." They both raised their bottles of Butterbeer and chugged the rest. Hermione sputtered, not having the same drinking abilities as Harry. He laughed and she hit him.

Hard.

* * *

". . . and finally the village of Hogsmeade is, as always, prohibited to anyone under 3rd year." Dumbledore finished his speech and everyone clapped, then the food appeared on the tables and the hall exploded with conversation. Harry loaded his plate with food as Hermione looked on in wonder.

"What? There's food there, if you want some, get your own and don't stare at mine," Harry said. The doors suddenly burst open and Professor Vector, the arithmancy teacher strode quickly up to the teacher's table and whispered something in Dumbledore's ear. He nodded and stood up. Everyone quieted down.

"Could I please see Harry Potter and Hermione Granger after supper? That is all." Everyone in the hall began to murmur and crane their necks in order to see how the two were reacting to this abrupt announcement.

"What was that?" Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

"I have no clue, I guess we'll see after dinner."

"Do you think it has anything to do with Ron?" Harry said. Hermione dropped her fork and knife and turned to look at Harry in horror.

"Oh my god, Harry do you really think – " she broke off and they both turned to look at the teachers table where Dumbledore and McGonagall were conversing in low tones looking very solemn.

The plates were cleared and the students filling out. Hermione and Harry stayed in their seats, waiting for the hall to empty before approaching the headmaster.

"Professor, is it-" Harry began.

"Harry, please, lets go to my office where we can't be disrupted." The two nodded, and followed the older man along the familiar path to the gargoyle statue, which sprang to the side on the words "cockroach clusters". Harry made face at the thought of the very unappetizing candies and Hermione managed a weak smile. Once inside and seated, Dumbledore regarded the two teenagers over the top of his glasses.

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there has been an attack." Hermione gasped and grabbed Harry's hand. "The Weasley's are mostly okay, all of them are alive but I regret to inform you that Ron will not be able to return to school this year."

"But professor, you said they were all alive." Harry said, his face pale.

"Yes Harry, but Ron sustained outstanding injuries. I'm afraid he was blinded." Hermione burst into tears and Harry sat there in shock. There was no way this could be happening. Why did this have to happen to the Weasley's? It was all his fault; Voldemort was only doing this to hurt him by hurting the people he cared about. It was times like these that he considered severing all ties and living alone as a hermit. Then Voldemort wouldn't have to hurt anyone else, he could just come looking for him and the two could duke it out. The ultimate battle between good and evil, etc, so on and so forth. He was so sick of this. He should have been there for Ron, hell he should be there now, but he couldn't be.

"Molly has insisted that Ginny continue her education here. She arrived during the feast and instead of causing commotion and disrupting supper more than necessary, we sent her up to her dorm. You will be able to speak to her tomorrow. Now I think it's best for you both to go to bed." The two stood up and made to leave, but Hermione turned around.

"Professor, what will happen to Ron?"

"Once Ron becomes accustomed to his lack of sight he will finish his schooling at Hogwarts. Until then, the Weasley's are safe in hiding." Harry and Hermione nodded and left the office. Once they stepped off the moving stairs, they made to go their separate ways: Hermione to Head tower and Harry to Gryffindor tower.

"Night then." Harry said and turned away but Hermione caught his arm.

"Harry? Could you . . . do you think you could sleep in my room tonight? I mean I could conjure up a bed and everything for you, cause I wouldn't make you sleep on the floor and of course you couldn't sleep in the same bed as me cause that'd be kind of weird. Not that I think you're weird but-"

"Hermione calm down, you're rambling. It's ok."

"Thank you so much Harry. I just can't sleep alone tonight."


	2. Change

**So This Is How It Ends   
**_by inxanity_

* * *

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

**Pairings:** Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley/Tom Riddle

**Characters:** Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Tom Riddle/Voldemort, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley

**Summary:** Some call them the blessed, they were gifted with extraordinary grace. They were born to be set apart, yet some may call them the cursed. They were born to save us, to die young so we could continue to live. See their final year through their eyes and discover to what fate they were born.

**Rating:** R

* * *

**Chapter Two – Change – Ginny **

**

* * *

**_After the last girl in her dorm said goodnight and closed the hangings around her bed, Ginny clicked off the light and snuggled into her own bed._

_(dream)_

She was in a beautiful house and the sound of laughter could be heard through a door to her left. She walked through it and entered a long hallway. The voices were drifting up the stairs in front of her so she followed them downstairs. They led her to a slightly open door. She peaked through the gap and saw a group of adults sitting there. There was a man in the armchair closest to the fireplace, he looked to be in his late thirties and was still very handsome. He had jet-black hair and dark eyes; he waved his hands energetically as he spoke, obviously the one making everyone laugh. The blonde woman sitting next to him kept eyeing the cigarette held in his left hand that kept coming dangerously close to her face whenever he made an exceptionally dramatic gesture. Ginny could describe her as nothing less than stunning. The aforementioned blonde hair hung down her back, shining in the fire light, and the black party dress that she wore accentuated her voluptuous curves just enough to be entreating but not enough to be considered trashy. She was the person girl's around the world looked at and felt ugly in comparison.

Ginny heard the voices of at least two other people in the room, but because of the angle of the door, she could only glimpse their shadows and the occasional gesture of an arm, or the shake of a foot. Suddenly the front door flew open behind her, Ginny jumped and turned around to look at the source of disturbance, and found nothing there. There was the sound of chair scraping against the floor inside of the room and before Ginny could move, the parlour door flew open.

"What the-" came the explanation as the four occupants of the room filed out. Ginny jumped back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" she began, but stopped as she noted that no one was paying the slightest bit of attention to her. They were actually walking through her at the moment. She shuddered and moved out of the way. 'No wonder the ghosts hate people walking through them' she thought. She turned her attention back to the party. They were now all crowded around the door, peering outside, and finding nothing.

"Maybe it was the wind," said the blonde, clutching onto the dark haired man's arm.

"Indeed," came a voice from behind Ginny. She, along with the rest of the people in the room, spun around. Ginny gasped. There at the bottom of the stairs stood a boy of 17. A bit older than she had last seen him, but he still looked more or less the same. He was tall and had jet-black hair, much like Harry's, and he wore a set of black robes to match his hair, which hung open over a Hogwarts uniform.

"Tom," she breathed at the same time the man said it.

"Father," Tom replied curtly. "Surprised to see that you even recognize your own son." The blonde gasped and Tom's father's eyes narrowed to slits.

"What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear to Gemma that she and her filthy spawn are not welcome here! They never were!"

"Hmmm, funny, mother never said anything about that. Only 'Your father's a bastard Tom, never forget that. All muggles are bastards!'" Tom said, slipping his wand out from his sleeve and twirling it between his fingers. His father drew back.

"Get out of here that instant!" He screamed, finally loosing his cool, and trying to back into the parlour.

"No, I think I'll stay for a while." Tom said softly. He pointed his wand at one of the guests. The man's eyes grew wide and he backed away, opening his mouth to scream. "Segmentum." Tom said coolly and watched wordlessly as the man was shredded into pieces. The other scattered upon seeing this horrendous sight.

"Revenge is very sweet my love," said a voice in Ginny's ear. She spun around and saw the same boy that was standing at the foot of the steps.

"What is this? Why are you showing me this, Tom?" Ginny cried.

"Because I felt like it, and you needed to see. You were too innocent." Tom whispered, backing Ginny against the wall as his dream self continued to murder his father's wife.

"I'm not innocent Tom. I haven't been since I was eleven. You of all people should know that." Ginny retorted. Tom smirked.

"Of course I do Ginevra, but I didn't mean in that sense." Tom put his hands on the wall on either side of her head. He lowered his head to her ear and said, "And I want to keep you as mine." Then he bit her ear. Ginny flinched as he drew blood, but she couldn't make him stop. No, Tom had full control over her. He always did.

_(flashback)_

"It's okay Ginevra. Nothing's wrong, all you need to do is relax." Tom said soothingly and so she did. She let him have his way with her, and afterwards he drew her wand, which she had discarded sometime before, and cast a spell on her. She felt herself become weak, and it felt like a hand was grabbing her heart and squeezing the life from her. It was her 12th birthday when Tom, sweet, trusting, loveable Tom betrayed her. Used her. Murdered her. Ginny was left there on the stone floor at the feet of Salazar Slytherin. She watched as Harry came to save her, she saw him defeat the basilisk, and she felt her insides tear apart as Tom disappeared in a flash of light. Suddenly she felt the life return. The hand around her heart gave one last painful squeeze and withdrew, with whispered promises of return. She sat up, and resumed her mask of innocence, 'You must not make then suspicious' she told herself. Ginny rejoined the normal world the next year, void of friends because of association. Everything returned to normal, without Tom, he was gone forever she thought. And every night since, she had wept for her loss.

_(end flashback)_

Tom discontinued his work on Ginny's ear. She could feel the blood running down her neck. Tom towered over her, her blood dripping down his chin. She could have resisted, she could have stopped herself, and hell she could have woken up. But she didn't.

"Tom," she breathed for the second time that night and before she knew it, she was engaged in a heated kiss. Their tongues battled for control until neither could breathe. Then their mouths broke apart and Tom kissed his way down Ginny's neck as she gasped for air. She tilted her head back to allow for easier access as Tom licked up all the blood running down her neck before returning his attention to the base of her neck where he kissed, sucked, and bit until she had a huge bruise there. Once he was satisfied with the size of the mark he had left, he continued downwards. Unbuttoning Ginny's pajama shirt as he kissed down her collarbone. When he reached her breast, she let out a gasp as she felt the cool air hit her. He began to suck hungrily on her right breast, while rubbing her left one with his hand. Ginny moaned in pleasure and Tom smiled. He then turned his attentions to her left breast. She entangled her hands into his jet-black hair, and he raised his head again, she whimpered at the halt of his actions. He captured her lips in a fiery kiss again and placed his hands on her ass. She winded her legs around his waist and he lifted her up. She began to grind against him and Tom growled into her mouth. He broke the kiss and then kissed down to the top of her right breast again. Ginny screamed as she felt two teeth sink into her skin.

"Ginny. . . Ginny! GINNY!" Ginny opened her eyes and saw all four of her dorm mates standing over her.

"Oh my god Ginny, I don't think I've heard anyone scream like that before! It was like you were dying or something. . ." the girl shuddered and trailed off. Ginny sat up in bed and put her head in her hands. All of a sudden she felt like she was burning up.

"Oh god, help me." She moaned as she stumbled to the bathroom, clutching her head. As soon as she reached it and turned on the lights, a wave of nausea hit her and she barely made it to the toilet as she threw up. Someone was standing behind her, holding her hair back, and once she was finished she croaked to one of the people standing by the door to turn off the lights. Once it was dark, she felt better.

"Oh holy shit," she swore as she scrambled up from her seat on the floor. She shooed everyone out and locked the door behind them. She leaned up against the door and flicked the lights on again. As soon as they were on, she felt her skin start to burn and her eyes sting, and the nausea returned. She quickly turned them off and walked over to where there was a long mirror above a row of sinks. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, and then turned on the water and washed her face quickly and brushed her teeth. Then she slowly unbuttoned her shirt while telling herself over and over again 'It was only a dream. . . It was only a dream. . . It was-" Ginny looked in the mirror and screamed again. The others, who were standing outside of the door clutched their ears at the pitch and volume of the noise. When they found her in the morning, Ginny was passed out on the floor, her pajama top hiding the two teeth marks at the top of her right breast.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok so by now you can tell it won't only be a Hermione/Draco story.  It'll take them a while to get to that so be patient.  Hope you liked it, sorry for the long time in updating.

_bitterly yours,_

_inxanity_


	3. Grasping For Light

**So This Is How It Ends  
**_By inxanity

* * *

_

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

**Pairings:** Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley/Tom Riddle

**Characters:** Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Tom Riddle/Voldemort, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley

**Summary:** Some call them the blessed, they were gifted with extraordinary grace. They were born to be set apart, yet some may call them the cursed. They were born to save us, to die young so we could continue to live. See their final year through their eyes and discover to what fate they were born.

**Rating:** R

* * *

**Chapter Three – Grasping For Light – Ron **

* * *

Ron opened his eyes to complete darkness. He reached around for the light, found it, and clicked it on but the room remained dark. He sighed. Everyday he hoped and prayed that it would be the day he got his vision back, but fate had decided that today it would not be so. He removed his wand from where he kept it strapped to his ankle so as to keep from loosing it. With a muttered spell "Vestio" he dressed himself and slipped his wand back into place before stepping into the hallway, the door magically locking behind him.

He didn't know the place they were staying, no one had told him for safety's sake, he knew for sure that they weren't in number 12 Gimmauld Place. It seemed to be more of a crossroads, a staging post for the ambassadors from innumerable foreign variations of the Order. Just walking through the hallways never once heard English, mainly because it seemed they had related to ancient times and the common tongue here was Latin. Ron had walked these hallways long enough to know his way to the kitchen and the bathroom, the majority of his needs could be found here and most days he had taken to withdrawing to his room for days at a time. Dumbledore visited infrequently which was excusable because after all he did have a school to run and an uprising to stop, but the only way he could have any contact with Harry and Hermione was through him because it now had become too dangerous to send owls.

He entered the kitchen and waited at the door until he felt his mother approach him. "Morning honey, have a good sleep?" she asked cheerfully, taking hold of his arm and leading him over to a table. "Are you hungry? I made kippers," she sat him down and Ron heard her push a plate in front of him. He picked up the fork and knife and set them against the plate, wincing when they scraped against the plate. "You want me to cut that for you dear?" his mother questioned. He nodded his head and pushed his plate in her general direction. Or so he thought. There was a large shattering sound as the plate crashed to the ground.

"Aw, dammit! Mum I'm so sorry." He swore, getting up to try to pick up the pieces.

"That's ok honey, don't swear." She replied, pushing him back down and cleaned the pieces of the broken plate away with a flick of her wand. "How about some cereal instead?"

"Sounds good." He said, and leaned forward on the table, putting his head in his hands. It just wasn't fair. Why did it have to be him? He was supposed to fight side by side with Harry in the final battle; he was supposed to go down in the history books as one of the few who helped to defeat Lord Voldemort. He wasn't supposed to be _here_ as helpless as an infant, and standing by as Harry and Hermione swiftly approached their doom.

All of a sudden his attention was caught by a small prick of light. Were his useless eyes deceiving him? No, the light grew stronger and bigger as if it were moving towards him. He reached out a hand to see if he could touch it, and closed his fingers around the orb.

His world exploded. After being in the dark for so long, the sudden burst of light stung his eyes to no end, but this was not where he just was. He was in what seemed like an old-fashioned muggle movie, the scene in front of him kept flickering and the sound seemed distorted somehow.

"_Did you really think that you could come in here and just kill _me_?" Voldemort said with mocking in his voice. Harry clenched his fist around his wand as Voldemort laughed. A girl moaned in the background. Harry took his eyes off of his arch – nemesis and saw Ginny writing in pain. She was chained to the wall by gold handcuffs and it seemed that they were burning through her skin, the dark blood contrasting greatly from her snow white skin. _

"_What have you done to her?" Harry hissed, turning his attention back to Voldemort._

"_Nothing actually, she came on her own free will." He said smirking._

"_You expect me to believe that?" Harry said. "I'll ask you one more time, what did you do to her?" but before he could get a reply, he heard the crack of bones behind him. Harry spun around to see Peter Pettigrew standing there, wincing at his fatal mistake and holding a knife dripping with poison. _

"_You fool! Kill him!" Voldemort shouted at Pettigrew, who raised the knife and took a swing at Harry, who ducked and grabbed the hand that was holding the knife and plunged it into the short man standing before him. The look on both of their faces was filled with nothing but shock, as Harry let go of him, and Pettigrew collapsed to the ground. _

"_Well done Potter. You managed to kill an annoyance. My turn now," he said, raising his wand casually. Harry ducked and picked up the now dead form of Peter Pettigrew and held it up before him. He was thrown backwards as the force of the spell hit the cadaver. Voldemort, let out a frustrated sigh, "Why must you make this so hard for yourself Potter? You're going to die one way or another, let's just get it over with ok?" Voldemort was slowly moving towards Harry, he cast a spell on Pettigrew's body as he passed it, and the flesh immediately disintegrated, leaving only bones. Harry shuddered to think how many people had suffered the same fate. "I've grown bored of this, good bye Harry." _

A green light filled Ron's vision and then everything returned to the usual black. He realized that he was on the ground, and people all around him were shouting his name.

He shouted back, "Mom? MOM!!! Where are you?"

"I'm right here Ron, Merlin's beard, what was that about?" he felt his mother grasp his hand and pull him up, dusting him off.

"I need to talk to Dumbledore, now." He said, brushing her hand away.

"Now Ron, I've told you before, you have to wait."

"No, mom, it can't wait. This is _really_ important-"

"Of course it is, honey-"

"No mom. Listen to me! I saw something and I need to tell Dumbledore RIGHT NOW!" he shouted. All of a sudden the room went quiet, save for a few people whispering in different languages.

"Come with me," his mother muttered and led him by the arm out of the room. "Sit down," he was pushed down into a plush chair, and stayed still. He could hear his mother bustling around and was met with sudden warmth; she had made a fire.

"Dumbledore, yes, can you get over here quickly? Yes, it's Ron. Okay. He'll be here in an hour."

"Sorry?" Ron said, not realizing that he was being spoken to.

"Dumbledore will be here in an hour and you can tell him what you saw."

"Oh," he said, and didn't speak for the following hour until he heard a soft knock at the door and his mother got up to open it. She and Dumbledore talked in hushed voices for a while before coming over to sit by Ron.

"OK Ron, please tell me everything that happened."

* * *

It took over an hour for Ron to tell the full account of it because his mother and Dumbledore continuously interrupted him. Once he was done however, they remained silent. Ron thought it best to stay that way as well until Dumbledore broke the silence.

"Ron I want to know immediately if this ever happens again. For the moment I will begin to make arrangements for you to start training with a diviner. No it's not Professor Trelawney," Dumbledore smiled at the look of protest that set upon his former student's face. "Professor Snape is also working on a potion that may help you recover your eyesight. He thinks it may be ready in a fortnight or two."

"Thank you so much professor." Ron said, feeling happier than he had since the attack.

"One more question though. Is this the first time something like this has happened?" Ron thought back to all those times when he played Harry in chess, all those times when he was able to see the moves before they happened. All those times he had known when something was about to happen the moment before it did.

"Not really," he said slowly, "not something this big. I mean, it was just minor stuff."

"May I ask why you told no one of these visions?"

"Well, I did once, when I was younger. Fred and George were planning something and I got this vision that they were going to get hurt, so I told them but they just laughed at me. So I decided that it was just nothing." Ron shrugged.

"Very well. Molly, thank you for the tea, I must take my leave of you. I will return in the near future." And he was gone.

The two Weasley's sat in silence. "Mom . . ." Ron began.

"Oh my baby," exclaimed Mrs. Weasley and drew Ron into a crushing hug. Stroking his hair and rocking back and forth she murmured "Why my family? Why?"


	4. The Insomniac

**So This Is How It Ends  
**_By inxanity_

* * *

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Pairings:** Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley/Tom Riddle

**Characters:** Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Tom Riddle/Voldemort, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Anthony Goldstein

**Summary:** Some call them the blessed, they were gifted with extraordinary grace. They were born to be set apart, yet some may call them the cursed. They were born to save us, to die young so we could continue to live. See their final year through their eyes and discover to what fate they were born.

**Rating:** R

* * *

**Chapter Four – The Insomniac - Hermione

* * *

**

Hermione sat up in her bed, gasping for air. She had felt like something was sitting on her chest and trying to choke her. She subconsciously moved her hands up to her neck as if to check that her head and neck were all in proper order. Once assured of this fact she glanced around her room, eyes lingering on the sleeping from of Harry in gentle slumber atop a very soft and very comfortable conjured bed. She had felt so bad about taking away the comfort of his own bed that she had really outdone herself. Harry rolled over in his sleep, muttering something about thanking the hamster but he already had enough butter. Hermione smiled softly until her eyes caught the clock. 2.45 AM it read. _Damn_ she thought. From the way her mind was racing, she could tell that she wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight. Sighing, she got up and pulled her robe over her pajamas. _Great_ she thought _just add insomnia to my long list of worries. I really should tear that list up, it's probably the cause of all this_ she thought as she scribbled _insomnia_ at the bottom of a long list. She stuffed the parchment back into her bedside table and grabbed her wand before quietly slipping out of the room so as not to wake Harry.

Hermione descended the stairs from her room to the head's common room. She had to admit, the school had really outdone itself on the tower. In the common room a large plush couch sat in front of a large plasma screen TV. Yes, a TV. Hermione had no idea why of course but hey, she most definitely wasn't complaining. A door to the left led off to a small private library/study and on the opposite side of the room a small kitchen was set up, complete with mini-bar. Her room, and she suspected Anthony's to be the same, was enormous to say the least. A king size four poster bed stood in the middle of the room, flanked on one side by a walk in closet, and desk on the other. There was a window seat looking out onto the front lawn of the castle and underneath, a bookshelf, which was obviously enchanted because Hermione was able to fit all her books in with ease. To her amazement, when she walked in her room for the first time, an Apple iPod (with speakers) and an iBook sat on the desk as congratulation presents from the teachers on becoming head girl. She didn't have enough time to explore her bathroom properly before sleep beckoned to her last night but she promised herself further inspection time in the morning. Back in the common room, Hermione clicked on the TV and her favourite movie, Finding Neverland, came on automatically. She grabbed a can of soda and bag of popcorn from the kitchen and plunked herself down on the couch.

* * *

A few hours later as the movie ended and the credits rolled, Hermione slept peacefully curled up on the couch. So much for insomnia. However, others were awake at this time and they were very transfixed with our 'heroine' here. Once one of the creatures saw that the coast was clear, it made to dart out towards the sleeping girl but was caught around the neck and dragged back into the shadows by its companion.

"Not tonight" it hissed, "she isn't ready."

"But the master will be most displeased." The first whined.

"Yes, but of course, it will be you who will receive his punishment." Said the second, and before the first could react he was banished back to wherever he came from, leaving the second to slink back into the shadows, becoming nothing but a pair of glittering red eyes before they vanished completely.

* * *

Hermione was awoken with a burst of sunlight streaming through the tower window. Before she had the time to register where she was, she sensed that someone was standing over her. She immediately grabbed her wand and rolled over, pointing it straight into Harry's face.

"Uhh… boo?" He said, going cross eyed looking at the wand now threatening his nose.

"Harry! I'm sorry, it's just a reflex I've developed you know… I think from spending too much time around Moody." Hermione said, slipping her wand back into her pocket and sitting up. "I guess I slept fine then." She mused.

"Apparently" Harry said, pulling her up and pushing her in the direction of her room. "Come on, it's almost time for breakfast and you need to get ready or else we'll be late and I'll starve." He said with one final push. Hermione snorted in disbelief but went anyway.

* * *

When Harry and Hermione arrived at breakfast, they caused quite a stir. Everyone who noticed them whispered amongst their friends, wondering where the third member of their posse was. The two sat down at the Gryffindor table and accepted their schedules as Professor McGonogall walked by. Harry grabbed Hermione's schedule and began comparing his to her's. "Ugh Hermione. How do you do it? I mean… Advanced everything?" He said making a face.

Hermione took the piece of parchment from Harry's hands. "Really Harry, don't you think you should let me see my _own_ schedule before you do? Besides, it's not that bad. I'm sure if you actually _tried_-"

"Hermione. We've been through this before. I _do_ try. I'm really just not all that good. Hey look! We have Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts together and Advanced Potions. I still can't believe I got into that class you know?"

"At least it's not only with the Slytherins this year, hopefully Snape will pick on some of the other houses." Hermione said hopefully. The bell rang, and the tables were cleared of all food. Across the hall Goyle yelled in pain because he had just bitten into his hand instead of the blueberry muffin he was holding moments before. Harry and Hermione grabbed their bags and walked out of the hall. Hermione was looking at her schedule and she didn't see the group of Slytherins walking out of the hall in front of them. This also explains why she ran into Draco Malfoy.

"Fuck off Mudblood, even if you are that desperate, I wouldn't dream of fucking you." Malfoy sneered as Harry helped her off the ground.

Hermione didn't miss a beat, "30 points from Slytherin and a detention for rudeness and such language Malfoy. I'll owl you with the details later, and from now on I'd watch your mouth."

"And if I don't? What are you gunna do? Smother me with your hair?"

"No…" Hermione leaned forward and whispered something in Malfoy's ear. Only someone watching very closely would have seen the fleeting look of horror in his eyes, but Hermione was watching closely. When she pulled away, he was back to his façade.

"You wouldn't dare, Mudblood."

"Wouldn't I? Come on Harry, we're going to be late." She turned on her heel and Harry followed her in a state of shock.

Draco Malfoy watched her walk away, as the other Slytherins asked him what she had said to him. He ignored them as he regarded her shrinking form walk across the sloping front lawn of Hogwarts. He had never experienced such insolence. The Mudblood would have to learn her place, and he would most certainly be the one to teach her.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**Ok, wow. I'm so sorry I took such a long time in updating my life has just been crazy lately. Also, my apologies on the length of this chapter, I'll try to make them longer in the future but I'm not making any promises.

I am aware of the fact that electronics don't work in Hogwarts, but you see these are _special_ electronics and hey, if digital watches can work, why can't other stuff. Besides... it's my story, I can give them all the stuff I want. -smiles-

Review because they make me happy, you can even flame me if you want, cause they make me laugh.

_bitterly yours_


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